I saw AjayRaz's game completion lists and thought it was a neat idea. Rather than only include games I've "completed" in the traditional sense, I'll be including any games I've achieved significant milestones in. For instance getting gold trophies in every Grand Prix in Mario Kart or getting every multiplayer ribbon in Gears of War. That should make it a more complete list of the games I've played in 2018, single player, multiplayer, whatever, while excluding games I've not put significant time into.
For each game I'll note which platform I played on, the date I completed it or made some sort of milestone in the game and what that milestone was.
EDIT: Okay so having this "milestone" setup for this list mostly works but leaves out some games so I think I'll just add any game I've tried and want on the list regardless.
This list is mostly for my personal use. I have a dumb habit of starting games, getting distracted and dropping them, so this might encourage me to play through more games and collect my thoughts on them after. But since you're here, do feel free to read and comment. Maybe I'll do these every year, we'll see. Vidja games!
Showing 1-10 of 13 items
| Switch | January 13th | 150cc Gold Trophies | I'm pleasantly surprised at how much they've improved Mario Kart 8 with the Deluxe Switch version. Adding all the DLC tracks means there's now a really sizeable selection and while some tracks are better than others I haven't found any particularly boring or unenjoyable. Holding more than one item like in Double Dash is a small change that makes a big difference, though I kind of wish you could switch between items. I skipped MK7 as I don't currently have a 3DS so 8 was the first Mario Kart I played with the Diddy Kong Racing-style kart transformation system and it's implemented really well. It doesn't have a massive impact on the gameplay overall but it makes tracks more dynamic and visually interesting. The music is really solid as always and visually the game is just gorgeous. It already looked great on Wii U and looks even nicer in full 1080p. If there's one thing that doesn't gel with me in this game it's 200cc mode. I'm convinced this wasn't a thing before because going beyond 150cc fundamentally breaks the game. This is a kart racer, and as far as I'm concerned I should have my foot down the entire time, drifting around bends instead of slowing down. In 200cc you HAVE to slow down, even in the slowest karts. Maybe it's fun for other people, and I can't deny it's challenging, but it seems to kind of ruin the experience to me. I'll play with it some more and maybe my opinion will change but I'm pretty sure 150cc will remain my jam. I also love the Zelda track (it has rupees instead of coins!) and REALLY love the F-Zero tracks. The anti-gravity kart mode made F-Zero stuff fit perfectly. I think I'm onboard with adding more non-Mario related Nintendo characters and tracks into the game, hell throw Sonic in there too, I'm down for Super Smash Kart.
| Xbox One | January 16th | Re-Upped 10 Times | Finally hit re-up 10 so it feels like a good time to collect my thoughts on this game, this'll be a long one! They definitely played it safe for the campaign, the timeskip and change of main cast is the most daring thing about it. Fighting robots for the first few missions was an interesting change, but I wish they didn't just bring the Locust back after that. Sure, they mutated into the "Swarm" so they could introduce new enemy types to fight but it meant the story was just "the Locust are back, here we go again" and ultimately that's a little disappointing. They should have fully explored what they were going for at the beginning; an exploitative government trying to strictly control a newly rebuilding world - that's by no means an original concept either but it's something different for this series. But all that said, overall it's a solid enough campaign for the first in a new trilogy. It's more Gears if nothing else. Multiplayer is a whole other thing and in some ways very frustrating. The Coalition went with a dual weapon tuning system; a less competitive mode for new players and a hardcore tuning for experienced players with more skill. The problem is they never really got it right. They were tweaking it months upon months after release, and it only seemed to annoy players. At this point both tunings are actually pretty good, but the system never seemed to serve the purpose they designed it for and did way more damage than good. I stuck with Gears 4 for Horde mode and King of the Hill. Horde is a fun experience with a group of friends and King of the Hill is the core Gears multiplayer experience. It's particularly good now that the hit detection and matchmaking is better. The skill cards for horde take way too long to unlock and upgrade and achieving 10 re-ups without doing horde speedruns is just insane. Lots of people who kept playing Gears 4 were unfortunately just grinding for exp and credits rather than coming back for the fun of it, which is a shame. Those systems were clearly designed to exploit those players, and that's shitty. I hope for Gears 5 they just scrap the dual tuning and learn from the various missteps they made. They have a much better foundation for Gears 5, so maybe it will be great from the start, here's to hoping. | Xbox One | January 29th | Chest Candy Achievement | Holy balls I thought I'd never actually earn all the multiplayer ribbons in this game but I finally did it. Had to play a bunch of Escalation matches to get the last couple which was cool because it reminded me how fun it is. If you like King of the Hill give Escalation a go! I have a few more achievements I can get in this game, but now I'm annoyed because I nearly have all the original achievements, but they've added a bunch of stupid-hard new ones like "beat the campaign on inconceivable solo" and "beat it on ironman mode" which are both ridiculous. Would have been nice to 100% a Gears game. Oh well. | Xbox One | February 15th | Seriously 4.0 Achievement | Damn, I finally have a Gears Seriously achievement. Turns out Insane campaign is way easier on solo than co-op. Picked up where me and my brother left off and finished it in one sitting. I think I appreciate the campaign a little more after going through it again. Now I've unlocked Inconceivable difficulty...
| PC | January 21st | Doki Doki Literature Club is ̸f̷u̵l̸l̸ ̴o̷f̷ ̸c̴u̴t̴e̵ ̴gir̵l̴s̸!̸ ̷Will ̷y̶o̷u̷ ̶M̷̡̟̊̓̾̋Ơ̷̡͈̳̘̽̈́͑N̸̰͖̜̚I̶̧̎͋̉KȂ̷̰ ̶̬̤͐͋̚ͅw̴̢̻̺͌̀̓́rit̸̤̯̥͋̐̕ẹ̵̢̩̤̑ ̶̳̀̄t̷̡́͐̈́͒h̵̰̠̾é̶̪͚̰͜ ̷̡̿͛͊̚way into ̷̯̟̰̝̓̆̾J̸̭͉̍͐̂Ů̸̯̟͓̹͆̃́S̷͓̱̳̜̑̎T̶̩́̂̕ ̵̻̘́t̴̛̠̂hei̷̦̹̱͊̌r̸̛͓͗̌̔ ̸̺̝͐̂͑̂heart?̸̎ͅ ̸͍̀̆͂ͅŢ̴̦̦̀̂̚ḥ̴̳̿̈̎͒i̸̧̛͇͕̠͆͋͘s̸͕̿̄͂͌ ̵̠͊̒M̴̗̗̈́̀MMǪ̷́̏̐Ń̶̺̜͛̌̈́i̸̳̝͔͕͐͛̈̄k̴̡̹͌͋̕a̶̛̟̯͐ ̶̻̜̑̍̊game ̵͈͗ì̸͎̼̹̭̇s̵͚̮͈̽ ̸̼͖̤̏̓HELP ME ņ̴̣̫̣̋́ö̶̧͎͛͝t̸̫̰̫̗̚ ̶̨̜̖̈́s̸͍͛̌̃̿ǘ̶͕̍̕itab̵̰̻̱́̐ͅl̶̦̃̀͘e̷͍̩̙̰͒ ̵͖̳͚͍̿̑̈́j̴̜̤̓͊̓j̸̮̿͌͒j̴̙͚͇̍̿̋͘u̷̝̮̯̔Ş̴̖̎̉̓͑T̷̩̞̫̒̚͜ IT HUrTS so muCh ̶̤͙̭̀̾̿f̶̞̎͊͝o̶͎̦̥̤̽̀̑̊r̴̻͙̫͑͛̈́ ̵͖͙̀c̶̛̲̠̃̚h̷̳̕ỉ̴͙͓̍͘l̸̡̹̤̝̀͒̀̊d̸͇͍̺̀̕̕͝r̵͇͖̓e̴̢̞̹͝ń̸̲̗̟͝ ̸̫̠̮̓̽̊ǫ̵̺͉̣̏r̶͚͓̹̀̏ ̴̫̰̳͎̉̈́͂WhAT Am I t̴̡̛̗̊̔̋h̵͎̓̄̅͝os̵̠̱̉͒̏e̶͇̯̥̾̆͝ ̷̱̠̞͌m̷͙̈́͜͠Ơ̶̻̪͓͝͠NiKa̸̛͉̽͘ ̸͈̣̑̔̀w̷̡̞͍͉͆h̵̝͊́̋͝o̶̢̨͚͙̐ ̴̡̡̯̈͠are ̵͉͋̀ẹ̴͎̠͝ä̵͚́͛sil̶̯͙̿̆̏̔ỵ̵͂̀̾̊ monika ̸̨̬͌disturḅ̵͖͇͐̉̄ȅ̴̩͔d̶̟̖͗.̵̞͉͚́̋̐ J̶̧̛̛̯̺̝̮̼̭̩͎̬͍͐̿̈́͋͊̽̉UŞ̴̛͙̜̟͉̯̤̩̰̫̭̪͛̔͆̒̂̃̾̿͆͜T̸̡̧̟̟̳̘̹͍̺͆̾̎ ̷̜̜̻͆́̉̍̔̆̉̓́̈́̌̽͗̚M̵̲͚̦͙̰̠͠ONI̶̢̫̬̜̠͎̼̗͒̌̃͑͛̊K̵̟͓̥̥͇̓̈̀͋̐̆̅̾̍Ḁ̵̲͎̙̫̳̤̻͕͍͚̄́́̑̂̓̿̊̒̌̕ JUST M̴̻̩̺̹̿̿̇́̓̊͆̌͝MỌ̴̯͚͛͊͑̀͘NIKA. JUST m̷͙̈́͜͠ONIKA Just Monika
| Xbox 360 BC on Xbox One | March 8th | All Achievements | I recently got a couple months of Game Pass and IMMEDIATELY downloaded this and got all the achievements in one sitting. This game is still damn good, I completed the original non-DX version on 360 back when it came out, then the DX version later on Steam and now again on Xbox One via 360 backwards compatibility. Back compat on Xbox One is so damn good. My only complaint is that the achievements are too easy, I'd enjoy a few tough challenges to go after. Kind of tempted to get the sequel now. I know it's not as good but I want more and that might be the next best thing.
| Xbox 360 BC on Xbox One | March 9th | All Achievements | Another game I snatched up from Game Pass. I've always loved the SoulCalibur games but I started with II on the GameCube and never got around to trying the previous installment out. The gameplay is rock solid and it looks super sharp in this HD port. It actually has some Tekken vibes here and there that weren't in II, like the VS screens before each fight. Feels a bit like a missing link I never saw between the two fighting series so that's cool. Like Pac-Man CE DX the achievements in this are super easy, though I think that's mostly because they were apparently restricted in terms of file size for early Xbox Live Arcade games so the game is missing some stuff. That's okay though since I have SoulCalibur II HD and have some stuff to go back for in that game. This was just a fun little video game history lesson for me.
| Xbox 360 BC on Xbox One | March-April | So I played a decent chunk of this game and I think it's gorgeous (dat water!) but I guess I have the same complaints everyone else has; it gets boring. The foundation is great but it shouldn't have been released as it was. The core gameplay loop is slow and repetitive and you're essentially forced to make your own fun. I'm sure with a crew of friends all on mics (or better yet in a LAN setup) yelling at each other in pirate talk it's a great time, and I'd like to do that, but unless I take the time to find a new group to commit with to this game I doubt it'll happen. It's still installed on my Xbox so... maybe one day.
| PS4 | May 8th | Completed Story Mode | Did the smart thing and waited for NetherRealm to do their usual rerelease with all the DLC, so I now have "Injustice 2 Legendary Edition Day One Edition" on my shelf... you know when it has Edition in the name twice it means business. This is a stunning fighting game, which from what I can tell improves in every way over the first one. I feel like they must have replaced whoever was in charge of character design from the original. The designs in Injustice 1 (and in MK vs DC and MK9) were obviously a stylistic choice but I always felt they were kind of ugly, almost grotesque in some ways. These character models are just gorgeous, far more realistic, and the faces and facial animations are the best I've seen in any fighting game. The best/worst thing in this game might be the fact that you can have the AI do all the grinding for you. There's a fairly extensive character progression and customization system but you can just select endless battle, pick an AI build for a character and watch it level itself up and farm customization items. I'm literally typing this as Wonder Woman is mowing down opponents on her way to level 30, and I already have 2 other characters maxed out. It feels like something you shouldn't be able to do and kind of makes you step back and think about grinding in video games as a whole. So overall; super solid fighter, great story mode, graphically gorgeous, plenty of depth and progression. Well polished all around.
| Xbox 360 BC on Xbox One | June 20th | Completed World Tour | This was one of the free Xbox Live Gold games for June so as a big Sonic fan I had to check it out. I did NOT expect it to be in the same league as Mario Kart, but in many ways it's better. Instead of having the crappy slow speed modes of Mario Kart (anything below 150cc is kinda worthless) it adjusts the difficulty of the AI which is the more logical way to do it. The World Tour mode is full of different kinds of races and time trials to keep things interesting. As the name implies this is a transforming racer like MK8 and Diddy Kong Racing, unlike MK8 though each mode feels very different and that keeps you on your toes, the boat racing is definitely the hardest. If I had to complain about something it's the character leveling system. You have to play a lot with each character to unlock their different builds/presets. If you're playing solo through World Tour you can just focus on Sonic and that's fine, but if you have people to play local versus with you either have to grind more characters to unlock the better presets or limit yourself to the base preset to make things fair. Anyway, if you like Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, or really any Kart Racing or Arcade Racing games in general, pick this up. It's on all the last gen systems and PC and people are still playing online too.
| Xbox 360 BC on Xbox One | July 1st | All Achievements | It's funny, I remember playing the Virtua Fighter 5 demo on Xbox 360 years and years ago and thinking it was so "next gen", but playing it now... well it doesn't seem to have changed all that much since the original. I've only played VF 1 and 2 on the Saturn and have fond memories of them, but maybe the reason they stopped making Virtua Fighter games is because it never evolved enough. Also, the sound is... kind of a mess. The music is fine, but the dialogue sounds horribly compressed and the sound effects sound like they've barely changed since the first few games. It creates this weird mismatch because the graphics are actually pretty slick so it's this modern looking fighter with 90s sound effects. Anyway, all that said this is still a solid fighting game even if it doesn't feel very different to Virtua Fighter 2 to me. I like the Shaolin Monk girl who kinda fights like a monkey, I remember liking her back in that original demo too. Oh, I also like how you can change the soundtrack to the older games, love it when fighting games do that. Ultimately though I think I'd prefer to play VF 1 and 2, luckily they were released on Xbox Live Arcade. Weirdly VF 1 isn't on Xbox One backwards compatibility though, get on that Microsoft/Sega!
| Xbox One | July 8th | Unlocked All Cars | Okay so I know getting the unlockable cars isn't a big deal in Rocket League but I wanted to add it to the list. I hadn't played in a good long while and the game was free to play over the weekend and half price. I already have it on PC, but I sometimes enjoy playing a game again on another platform. Anyway, played it a bunch, unlocked the Gears and Halo cars and decided screw it, I'll have Rocket League on my Xbox for £8, why not? It actually runs better than it does on my PC for the most part - I REALLY need to upgrade my puny 4GB RAM, it really holds my otherwise halfway decent PC back. I don't know when the novelty will wear off but I really enjoy playing with the Halo Warthog. Rocket League is still Rocket League, so it's still really, really good. EDIT: Okay I won't lie, I'm kinda pissed off they put this game on sale right before adding it to Game Pass. I get it, that's business... still a shitty thing to do, especially when I literally paid the price of a month's subscription. Not the first time I've fallen for it either, they did the same thing with Overcooked. Guess I'll just have to keep that in mind next time I see a game on sale...